Nats stink, but so do a lot of other teams

Things just keep getting worse for the woeful Nats. The day after they scored 11 runs and still lost to the Phillies in their bandbox stadium, supposed Ace John Lannan led the team to yet another victory on the season.

In that 13-11 loss on Monday, the Nats hit five home runs, two by Ryan Zimmerman, who is having an unusually hot start to the season. Last season, the Nats major malfunction was their inability to score runs and hit home runs. Now, with the addition of Adam Dunn and, the health of Nick Johnson, the maturation of Elijah Dukes and the comfort that a new contract has apparently given Zimmerman the team is hitting home runs at a seemingly much higher rate.

Still, as it is often said with teams, such as the Detroit Lions who hold the top picks in the NFL draft, will fixing one problem solve the team's overall issues. In the case of the Nats, obviously not.

The team needs a lead off hitter, three more starters, a closer, a set-up man, the rest of a bullpen. The laundry list is long.

It really should come as no surprise to fans and pundits, however. Everyone knew that this team lost 102 games last year. Do the additions of Dunn, Daniel Cabrera, Josh Wllingham and Scott Olsen really add a significant number of wins to the team? Obviously not.

Perhaps it is the fault of the team and its management, not in the way that people think though. The team seemingly worked overtime to hype their spring training optimism this year. Yeah, they have to sell tickets, but even with the hype they barely sold out opening day after pimping out Nationals Park to Phillies fans. Because of the team's start on the road, they were found out to be awful before home fans even got to see them play in person.

So, the team, its manager, the majority of players, and even the equipment managers seem to be over matched this season. Still, I am completely sick of hearing people make jokes at the Nats expense. Particularly fans of teams like the Orioles, who have not been good for 13 years. Just because you finally have a team to make fun of doesn't mean you should do it. The majority of fans can still make fun of you too.